Summary: Workshop on How to Measure, Report, and Verify Climate Finance

An informal summary of WRI's June 2011 workshop on the measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of finance provisions in the Cancun Agreements.

On the sidelines of the international climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany in June 2011, the World Resources Institute hosted a workshop to facilitate a technical discussion on the MRV of finance provisions of the Cancun Agreements, with a particular focus on the reporting of climate finance. This workshop, which was co-chaired by Laurence Blandford from Environment Canada and Benito Jiménez from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, consisted of an informal forum of experts from developed and developing country governments, international organizations – including the UNFCCC, the OECD, and the World Bank – and civil society.

The first session of the workshop focused on: the goal(s) of reporting climate finance under the Convention; how information and reporting practices of the OECD Development Assistance Committee can contribute to or complement these goal(s); and, what role civil society and private sector initiatives can play in helping the Convention fulfill these goal(s). The second session looked more specifically at how existing guidelines can be enhanced in order to fulfill the provisions of the Cancun Agreements. The third and final session of the workshop focused on the process for making an enhanced reporting system under the Convention operational, including implications for both new and existing institutions and entities under the Convention.

Discussions during the workshop yielded many ideas and proposals for moving forward on developing an enhanced system for reporting climate finance. It highlighted several areas of agreement among participants. It also highlighted several areas where more work needs to be done and more questions that need to be resolved by the COP and other relevant entities.

WRI has prepared an informal summary of the workshop’s presentations and discussions. It should not be taken to reflect the official positions of any government or institution present at the meeting.